October 28, 2025 • 15 mins
Relebogile Mabotja speaks to Juan Hanekom the National Director of the South African Motor Body Repairers’ Association (SAMBRA) about aligning South Africa’s collision repair sector.
702 Afternoons with Relebogile Mabotja is broadcast live on Johannesburg based talk radio station 702 every weekday afternoon. Relebogile brings a lighter touch to some of the issues of the day as well as a mix of lifestyle topics and a peak into the worlds of entertainment and leisure.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Seven o two the Car feature.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
Car Feature time at nineteen minutes two three o clock,
we take your calls on audible one double A three
oh seven oh two in the whatsap line oh seven.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
Two, seven oh two and seven oh two.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
We're talking about aligning South Africa's collision repair sector and
this always becomes quite a big conversation in our consumer
Rights feature.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
With Wendy Nola and in our Car feature, we're.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
Joined by Yue Hanakom, National director of SAMBRA, which is
the South African Motor Body Repairers Association, and we look
forward to chatting to all of you. Audible one double
A three oh seven oh two, the whatsap line, oh
seven two, seven oh two one seven oh two, How
are you doing?
Speaker 3 (00:42):
Welcome to the show, Thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
Can you just pull your mic? Close it?
Speaker 2 (00:48):
There we go almost like you're about to kiss it,
drama bait.
Speaker 1 (00:52):
Close enough if it.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
Looks like it's going in for a kiss, you're close enough.
Speaker 3 (00:57):
Great to know, great to know, so we learn.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
I'm letting you know in advance that we're probably going
to get a couple of calls about dodgy mechanics and
all of those things. Which is a big thing and
very very important. I want to know from you what
falls within the body. When you say Body Repairers Association,
does that only apply to panel beaters primarily?
Speaker 3 (01:22):
Okay, So let me maybe paint a larger picture.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
Yes, please.
Speaker 3 (01:26):
If you take a look at the automotive industry, right
and you cut it straight down the middle, you basically
have the guys who build the cars, which are the oms,
and then the guys who take care of the cars. Now,
from the RMI perspective, we focus on the latter, right,
We're looking after things like your mechanics, your panel beaters,
your petrol stations, and anything in between. What is rm
(01:48):
I so well, retail motor industry.
Speaker 1 (01:50):
Okay, just so we know the lingo, and this is.
Speaker 3 (01:52):
The umbrella or host organization to its constituent associations, and
SAMBRA makes up a small part of that. When we
take a look at SAMBA as a whole, though, we
are the largest representative body of motor body repairs or
panel beaters if you want to call it that, and
that's us.
Speaker 1 (02:10):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
So you cover your panel beaters, at what point does
the one bleed into the other department? Because and I'm
not sure how it works because if for me as
a consumer, if I'm taking my card it get fixed,
I drive it to one place and then I come.
Speaker 1 (02:30):
Back and I must get it.
Speaker 2 (02:31):
It's not like they're going to fix the inside and
then I'm going to drive somewhere unless people do that.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
Well, help me understand.
Speaker 3 (02:37):
So in the case of a collision where there are
mechanical repairs, most samber shops do have a qualified mechanic
that pretend to that where it becomes more specialized. And
if you're taking a look at some specialized vehicle diagnostics,
things that are dealer specific, take your Mercedes pens and
similar products, those will go to a dealership or accredited
(02:57):
me worship or similar.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
Okay, so what does this the repairs Association?
Speaker 1 (03:05):
What is the main work that you do?
Speaker 2 (03:08):
Do you just go and sort of give certificates, you
check out places or are you the ones that respond
should there be a problem with the ones that are operating.
Speaker 3 (03:19):
So our primary focus is to represent the interests of
the motor body repairers within South Africa. So our job
first starts off with making them setting the standard that
the member has to follow right or apply to their business.
So we go, we do regular gradings and accreditations within
our workspace, well within our member workshops, and from there
(03:41):
they get accredited into the Sambra family and then when
they're on in that family, we advocate for their needs
and the need in this case, the sustainability of their
businesses at the moment. We raise the issues that they
might have with the powers that be, be that an insurer,
OEM or government. And in certain instances, how does.
Speaker 2 (03:59):
A person get qualified to become a panel beta? Like,
because now there's YouTube videos for any everything. I don't
know if you've I'm pretty sure you've seen the video
where there's a dent and the person just takes boiling
water and then it pops back out and then we're like,
why are we paying three million rund to fix my
(04:20):
seventy thousand ruand cock?
Speaker 3 (04:24):
That's it though, Right, So there are some advances in
the way repairs happen, but you have to remember that
there's different categories of damage.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
Right.
Speaker 3 (04:32):
You were talking about genetics a little bit earlier. Yes,
love that topic. Yes, cut on your fingers one thing,
but engineering some revolutionary new medicine that's specifically tailed to
your new unique body is a completely different element. So
when you start looking at things like paintless dent removal,
which is actually what you're referring to there, it's a
(04:54):
subset of the panel beating trade. Right now, when you
look at a motor body repairer, you typically have your
paintless dent removers. You've got your nonstructural shops they fix
your minor fender benders, right, and then you've got your
major structural shops. These are the guys that are cutting
and welding on the car. But if anything from a
nonstructural shop up to a major structural shop has an
(05:16):
element where the paint has been compromised and needs to
be repaired, there is shrinkage in the metal, There is
a whole bunch of range of I don't know things
that have happened in that space, and a person needs
to do with the appropriate corrections. Then for that you
need specialized machinery. So correcting with something like boiling water
(05:38):
is an option in some rare.
Speaker 1 (05:39):
Cases if you'll cause plastic.
Speaker 3 (05:43):
Even metal, right, So there is space for that, but
there's a specific segment where it's appropriate. Where you paintless
dent removal rarely shine is when it comes to hail
repair where you've got a lot of small dents on
the car and those are appropriately to just rub them out,
but you haven't compromise the structure of the paint.
Speaker 2 (06:01):
So paintless dent removal, so I understand, is the one
where you don't need to come after and paint it up.
Speaker 1 (06:09):
It is a simple.
Speaker 3 (06:10):
So it's real realigning the metal, putting things everything back
to shape, and it's more about rubbing it into place
than it is about anything else.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
Please explain to me and we'll take a break and
do it when we come back.
Speaker 1 (06:23):
But I'm giving you the heads up.
Speaker 2 (06:25):
I want to know how how the thing works because
if I look at it, Den, do you feel like
you could just stick your hand under and just push it.
I need to know how the machines work, and then
of course we'll chat more about this aligning of the
repair sector collision repair sector as a whole. We take
your calls on Oudible one w A three oh seven
(06:46):
oh two and the WhatsApp line oh seven two seven
oh two one seven.
Speaker 1 (06:49):
O two seven O two.
Speaker 2 (06:51):
The car feature ten minutes two three o'clock our car
feature for today, we talk about aligning south Africa's collision
repair sector with your Hanna Kom, National Director of Sambra,
that South African Motor Body Repairers Association double one w
A three oh seven O two in the WhatsApp line
oh seven to seven oh two one seven two. In
(07:15):
terms of the other you know bodies that fall into
the collision sector which you've touched on, what would you
say is missing and getting you guys to be more
Kumbaya is the only word that came to mind.
Speaker 3 (07:31):
So I think if we take a look at the
collision repair industry as a whole litles, I first maybe
understand the player, isn't that yes. So you've obviously got
the nbrs or the motor body repairers, which we represent
a large portion of. Then you've got the insurers which
are represented by the likes of SAYA, and then you've
got the OEMs or the original equipment manufacturer of the
(07:52):
vehicle manufacturers and they are represented by NAMSA. Now there
is a lot of history and animosity in some of
these cohorts.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
Is it because some people think that others are overcharging
them or so?
Speaker 3 (08:05):
You know the default response when somebody says something or
you find out something you always assume malice, and it's
not always the case. Everybody's trying to drive in a
direction and there's a miscommunication and there's just some small
information gap that takes place there. And what we're finding
is you And I think it's best summed up as
(08:25):
an analogy. If you look at the motor body repair sector.
And I'm not sure if you ever drove and Lissen
fourteen hundred buck yet right?
Speaker 1 (08:31):
Wait, are those those little little ones?
Speaker 3 (08:33):
There's little miss and champs.
Speaker 2 (08:35):
I've been inside, but I haven't driven.
Speaker 3 (08:37):
But if you've ever driven one, you'll know that the
handbrake in any of those vehicles never ever worked right.
So what happens is you get up to a stop
treets on an uphill, yes, and you end up putting
your yeel on the brake and your big toe on
the petrol and you wangle it there and you try
and navigate this entire situation.
Speaker 1 (08:57):
You're here on the break in the big on the.
Speaker 3 (08:59):
Petrol, and you try to balance this entire equation ut
and eventually, when there's light turns green or what's your
turn to dry, you ride right. But the reality is
it's just a handbake that's not working and it just
needs to be fixed. But what's happening over time in
the industry is we've ignored the fact that the handbreak
is broken, and we've come up with consequential behavior other
(09:23):
things into place. So some guy comes to you while
you're sitting there, says, hey, I've got a brick, and
I sell you a brick, and then somebody comes up
with something else, and so it stacks on and we've
got five hundred different ways to compensate for this one
thing that's not working. So we need to bring that
into the MBR space. And we remember the SAHA representing
these insurers and ALMS are representing the OEMs. You take
(09:47):
a look at it and say, vehicle technology has increased
set such an exponential and rapid place. The technology in
those vehicles are no longer the same, and it's exponentially
more complex. So it takes something like a headlight no
longer just a bulb, a reflect and a lens. This
is a complicates of electronic equipment, right. It's got computers
(10:07):
in it, it's got alids and all the fancy things,
and it's no longer two thousand mpieces of equipment now
forty of equipment. And because of this complexity and the
increase in the parts price, because of the sort of technology,
you tend to find that the vehicles are now being
written off at a lower rate. Right, So instead some
(10:29):
vehicles I'm not going to mention any name specifically, Yeah,
I've written off at thirty five percent of their book value,
which is ridiculously low. So a car can no longer
say on the road. It's not as reparable as it
was before. You mentioned before the break about why can
we use hot water in some cases and not in others?
And then you look at it, so the thickness of
(10:50):
the material of the steel, it's no longer as thick
as it used to be before. You could hit whatever
you want and it would stay the same today.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
You know those old Mercedes with the big nose, Those
are hard, hard, hard.
Speaker 3 (11:02):
Yes, you could take out a tree with it. Your
go would be fine. You might need to take it
for a polish if you do need a panel better. Right,
your new card, it's getting closer to closer, and you
can maybe surmise it closer to something like tinfoil, right
where it's these thin sheets of metal that are there
and They're designed that way, not just not only for
a cost saving perspective, but more from a safety perspective.
(11:23):
These things are designed to crumple and exhorb the force
of the collision, and so it's not just a cost
cutting measure. It is a real safety thing for the consumer.
But the reality is that the extent of the damage
is more. More things can go wrong and more things
can break.
Speaker 2 (11:38):
So what are the big challenges then that Sambra is
experiencing that You're saying, guys, we all need to be
aligned now.
Speaker 3 (11:46):
So as I was mentioning that the complexity that comes
with that right when you factor the longer the end.
You don't look at it in isolation, but you look
at it holistically. Vehicles are getting written off more often.
Past prices have increasing. This increases the risk profile for
the insurer. The insurer then compensates by raising the insurance premium.
(12:07):
The OEM then goes and says, okay, cool, the premium
is higher. I'm not selling as many parts, are we
else many vehicles. I've got to make that up in
parts somewhere. And so this perpetual cycle carries on. Parts
prices rise, risk profiles, increase, write of percentages drop, and
so it becomes a vicious cycle until everybody gets together
around the same table to evaluate this thing holistically, perhaps
(12:29):
commissioning something of an independent study into the sustainability of
the industry, not held by one single party, but the
collective as a whole. Can we really start addressing the
intigrities once we find out from an independent perspective where
the flaws are, it would then be the responsibility of
each party to go back and fix the things in
our own house. And that's something that's lacking at the moment,
(12:50):
because at the moment it's a case of he said,
she said, MM, the panel beat is doing that, the
insurer is doing this, the OEM is doing that, And
you've got under stand that in this complicated tri angle
of a relationship, it's not that complicated, but it is
quite Ultimately, the manufacturer provides the vehicle and the standard
(13:12):
to repair that vehicle, the motibody repairer implements that standard,
whatever that might be, and the insurer fundst So what
you find is, because of the rise and the complexity
in the technology, more and more equipment is required in
the shop, which places an additional compliance burden for every
manufacturer approval or manufacturer brand that you like to work
(13:35):
on that is in warranty, you would apply to that
manufacturer for approval. If you're consider in the South African
market at the moment, there are fifty In just some
passenger vehicles, there are fifty brands tw two hundred and
three derivatives. If you take BUCkies specifically, is twenty six
brands and five hundred and ninety nine derivatives. I don't
(13:56):
know if you've got a big your walls need to
be if you want to put seventy six badges on
your wall, but it's just it's unsustainable, and obviously it's
a differentiating factor.
Speaker 2 (14:04):
So us as the consumers, why does it affect us?
Is it that things are just going to get more
and more expensive for us as consumers?
Speaker 3 (14:11):
Well, I think the consumers already feeling it. If you
take a look, I don't know when last you brought
a new vehicle and got insurance on it, but your
insurance premium is sometimes fifty percent if not one hunter well,
the same price as your vehicle.
Speaker 1 (14:21):
Installment, which is so scary, and.
Speaker 3 (14:23):
That we're really purely based on the risk profile, long
term ramifications for that that might get worse. You might
see an uptake in people that are become more self insured,
or what's the name, you might see a total failure
of the NBR network.
Speaker 2 (14:38):
So how is the industry, Because this is now your
official call to action to everybody, all the players in
the game, what are you asking them to do?
Speaker 3 (14:50):
We're sending an open hand. We want to sit around
the table and we want to discuss this. We don't
want to get into the commercial elements of it. We
want to look at the problems holistically. We want to
address them as best we can, not for the sake
of the MBR sector alone, but for the industry at large.
Speaker 2 (15:06):
The website is Sambra dot biz for all of you that.
Speaker 1 (15:09):
Would like to get more information, but.
Speaker 2 (15:11):
Of course for you to reach out so that a conversation,
conversation can begin, particularly all of you in this industry.
Speaker 1 (15:20):
One, thank you so much for chatting to us.
Speaker 2 (15:22):
And I think as motorists we all need to be
very very concerned because it does have a rupel effect
that comes back to us. But let us hope that
conversation happens and that you guys come to us at
some point and say, hey, we've come together at the table.
Speaker 1 (15:38):
Here's the outcome.
Speaker 3 (15:39):
Thank you again, thank you very much, thank you for
having me. It's always a pleasure.
Seven o two the Car feature.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
Car Feature time at nineteen minutes two three o clock,
we take your calls on audible one double A three
oh seven oh two in the whatsap line oh seven.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
Two, seven oh two and seven oh two.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
We're talking about aligning South Africa's collision repair sector and
this always becomes quite a big conversation in our consumer
Rights feature.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
With Wendy Nola and in our Car feature, we're.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
Joined by Yue Hanakom, National director of SAMBRA, which is
the South African Motor Body Repairers Association, and we look
forward to chatting to all of you. Audible one double
A three oh seven oh two, the whatsap line, oh
seven two, seven oh two one seven oh two, How
are you doing?
Speaker 3 (00:42):
Welcome to the show, Thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
Can you just pull your mic? Close it?
Speaker 2 (00:48):
There we go almost like you're about to kiss it,
drama bait.
Speaker 1 (00:52):
Close enough if it.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
Looks like it's going in for a kiss, you're close enough.
Speaker 3 (00:57):
Great to know, great to know, so we learn.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
I'm letting you know in advance that we're probably going
to get a couple of calls about dodgy mechanics and
all of those things. Which is a big thing and
very very important. I want to know from you what
falls within the body. When you say Body Repairers Association,
does that only apply to panel beaters primarily?
Speaker 3 (01:22):
Okay, So let me maybe paint a larger picture.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
Yes, please.
Speaker 3 (01:26):
If you take a look at the automotive industry, right
and you cut it straight down the middle, you basically
have the guys who build the cars, which are the oms,
and then the guys who take care of the cars. Now,
from the RMI perspective, we focus on the latter, right,
We're looking after things like your mechanics, your panel beaters,
your petrol stations, and anything in between. What is rm
(01:48):
I so well, retail motor industry.
Speaker 1 (01:50):
Okay, just so we know the lingo, and this is.
Speaker 3 (01:52):
The umbrella or host organization to its constituent associations, and
SAMBRA makes up a small part of that. When we
take a look at SAMBA as a whole, though, we
are the largest representative body of motor body repairs or
panel beaters if you want to call it that, and
that's us.
Speaker 1 (02:10):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
So you cover your panel beaters, at what point does
the one bleed into the other department? Because and I'm
not sure how it works because if for me as
a consumer, if I'm taking my card it get fixed,
I drive it to one place and then I come.
Speaker 1 (02:30):
Back and I must get it.
Speaker 2 (02:31):
It's not like they're going to fix the inside and
then I'm going to drive somewhere unless people do that.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
Well, help me understand.
Speaker 3 (02:37):
So in the case of a collision where there are
mechanical repairs, most samber shops do have a qualified mechanic
that pretend to that where it becomes more specialized. And
if you're taking a look at some specialized vehicle diagnostics,
things that are dealer specific, take your Mercedes pens and
similar products, those will go to a dealership or accredited
(02:57):
me worship or similar.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
Okay, so what does this the repairs Association?
Speaker 1 (03:05):
What is the main work that you do?
Speaker 2 (03:08):
Do you just go and sort of give certificates, you
check out places or are you the ones that respond
should there be a problem with the ones that are operating.
Speaker 3 (03:19):
So our primary focus is to represent the interests of
the motor body repairers within South Africa. So our job
first starts off with making them setting the standard that
the member has to follow right or apply to their business.
So we go, we do regular gradings and accreditations within
our workspace, well within our member workshops, and from there
(03:41):
they get accredited into the Sambra family and then when
they're on in that family, we advocate for their needs
and the need in this case, the sustainability of their
businesses at the moment. We raise the issues that they
might have with the powers that be, be that an insurer,
OEM or government. And in certain instances, how does.
Speaker 2 (03:59):
A person get qualified to become a panel beta? Like,
because now there's YouTube videos for any everything. I don't
know if you've I'm pretty sure you've seen the video
where there's a dent and the person just takes boiling
water and then it pops back out and then we're like,
why are we paying three million rund to fix my
(04:20):
seventy thousand ruand cock?
Speaker 3 (04:24):
That's it though, Right, So there are some advances in
the way repairs happen, but you have to remember that
there's different categories of damage.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
Right.
Speaker 3 (04:32):
You were talking about genetics a little bit earlier. Yes,
love that topic. Yes, cut on your fingers one thing,
but engineering some revolutionary new medicine that's specifically tailed to
your new unique body is a completely different element. So
when you start looking at things like paintless dent removal,
which is actually what you're referring to there, it's a
(04:54):
subset of the panel beating trade. Right now, when you
look at a motor body repairer, you typically have your
paintless dent removers. You've got your nonstructural shops they fix
your minor fender benders, right, and then you've got your
major structural shops. These are the guys that are cutting
and welding on the car. But if anything from a
nonstructural shop up to a major structural shop has an
(05:16):
element where the paint has been compromised and needs to
be repaired, there is shrinkage in the metal, There is
a whole bunch of range of I don't know things
that have happened in that space, and a person needs
to do with the appropriate corrections. Then for that you
need specialized machinery. So correcting with something like boiling water
(05:38):
is an option in some rare.
Speaker 1 (05:39):
Cases if you'll cause plastic.
Speaker 3 (05:43):
Even metal, right, So there is space for that, but
there's a specific segment where it's appropriate. Where you paintless
dent removal rarely shine is when it comes to hail
repair where you've got a lot of small dents on
the car and those are appropriately to just rub them out,
but you haven't compromise the structure of the paint.
Speaker 2 (06:01):
So paintless dent removal, so I understand, is the one
where you don't need to come after and paint it up.
Speaker 1 (06:09):
It is a simple.
Speaker 3 (06:10):
So it's real realigning the metal, putting things everything back
to shape, and it's more about rubbing it into place
than it is about anything else.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
Please explain to me and we'll take a break and
do it when we come back.
Speaker 1 (06:23):
But I'm giving you the heads up.
Speaker 2 (06:25):
I want to know how how the thing works because
if I look at it, Den, do you feel like
you could just stick your hand under and just push it.
I need to know how the machines work, and then
of course we'll chat more about this aligning of the
repair sector collision repair sector as a whole. We take
your calls on Oudible one w A three oh seven
(06:46):
oh two and the WhatsApp line oh seven two seven
oh two one seven.
Speaker 1 (06:49):
O two seven O two.
Speaker 2 (06:51):
The car feature ten minutes two three o'clock our car
feature for today, we talk about aligning south Africa's collision
repair sector with your Hanna Kom, National Director of Sambra,
that South African Motor Body Repairers Association double one w
A three oh seven O two in the WhatsApp line
oh seven to seven oh two one seven two. In
(07:15):
terms of the other you know bodies that fall into
the collision sector which you've touched on, what would you
say is missing and getting you guys to be more
Kumbaya is the only word that came to mind.
Speaker 3 (07:31):
So I think if we take a look at the
collision repair industry as a whole litles, I first maybe
understand the player, isn't that yes. So you've obviously got
the nbrs or the motor body repairers, which we represent
a large portion of. Then you've got the insurers which
are represented by the likes of SAYA, and then you've
got the OEMs or the original equipment manufacturer of the
(07:52):
vehicle manufacturers and they are represented by NAMSA. Now there
is a lot of history and animosity in some of
these cohorts.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
Is it because some people think that others are overcharging
them or so?
Speaker 3 (08:05):
You know the default response when somebody says something or
you find out something you always assume malice, and it's
not always the case. Everybody's trying to drive in a
direction and there's a miscommunication and there's just some small
information gap that takes place there. And what we're finding
is you And I think it's best summed up as
(08:25):
an analogy. If you look at the motor body repair sector.
And I'm not sure if you ever drove and Lissen
fourteen hundred buck yet right?
Speaker 1 (08:31):
Wait, are those those little little ones?
Speaker 3 (08:33):
There's little miss and champs.
Speaker 2 (08:35):
I've been inside, but I haven't driven.
Speaker 3 (08:37):
But if you've ever driven one, you'll know that the
handbrake in any of those vehicles never ever worked right.
So what happens is you get up to a stop
treets on an uphill, yes, and you end up putting
your yeel on the brake and your big toe on
the petrol and you wangle it there and you try
and navigate this entire situation.
Speaker 1 (08:57):
You're here on the break in the big on the.
Speaker 3 (08:59):
Petrol, and you try to balance this entire equation ut
and eventually, when there's light turns green or what's your
turn to dry, you ride right. But the reality is
it's just a handbake that's not working and it just
needs to be fixed. But what's happening over time in
the industry is we've ignored the fact that the handbreak
is broken, and we've come up with consequential behavior other
(09:23):
things into place. So some guy comes to you while
you're sitting there, says, hey, I've got a brick, and
I sell you a brick, and then somebody comes up
with something else, and so it stacks on and we've
got five hundred different ways to compensate for this one
thing that's not working. So we need to bring that
into the MBR space. And we remember the SAHA representing
these insurers and ALMS are representing the OEMs. You take
(09:47):
a look at it and say, vehicle technology has increased
set such an exponential and rapid place. The technology in
those vehicles are no longer the same, and it's exponentially
more complex. So it takes something like a headlight no
longer just a bulb, a reflect and a lens. This
is a complicates of electronic equipment, right. It's got computers
(10:07):
in it, it's got alids and all the fancy things,
and it's no longer two thousand mpieces of equipment now
forty of equipment. And because of this complexity and the
increase in the parts price, because of the sort of technology,
you tend to find that the vehicles are now being
written off at a lower rate. Right, So instead some
(10:29):
vehicles I'm not going to mention any name specifically, Yeah,
I've written off at thirty five percent of their book value,
which is ridiculously low. So a car can no longer
say on the road. It's not as reparable as it
was before. You mentioned before the break about why can
we use hot water in some cases and not in others?
And then you look at it, so the thickness of
(10:50):
the material of the steel, it's no longer as thick
as it used to be before. You could hit whatever
you want and it would stay the same today.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
You know those old Mercedes with the big nose, Those
are hard, hard, hard.
Speaker 3 (11:02):
Yes, you could take out a tree with it. Your
go would be fine. You might need to take it
for a polish if you do need a panel better. Right,
your new card, it's getting closer to closer, and you
can maybe surmise it closer to something like tinfoil, right
where it's these thin sheets of metal that are there
and They're designed that way, not just not only for
a cost saving perspective, but more from a safety perspective.
(11:23):
These things are designed to crumple and exhorb the force
of the collision, and so it's not just a cost
cutting measure. It is a real safety thing for the consumer.
But the reality is that the extent of the damage
is more. More things can go wrong and more things
can break.
Speaker 2 (11:38):
So what are the big challenges then that Sambra is
experiencing that You're saying, guys, we all need to be
aligned now.
Speaker 3 (11:46):
So as I was mentioning that the complexity that comes
with that right when you factor the longer the end.
You don't look at it in isolation, but you look
at it holistically. Vehicles are getting written off more often.
Past prices have increasing. This increases the risk profile for
the insurer. The insurer then compensates by raising the insurance premium.
(12:07):
The OEM then goes and says, okay, cool, the premium
is higher. I'm not selling as many parts, are we
else many vehicles. I've got to make that up in
parts somewhere. And so this perpetual cycle carries on. Parts
prices rise, risk profiles, increase, write of percentages drop, and
so it becomes a vicious cycle until everybody gets together
around the same table to evaluate this thing holistically, perhaps
(12:29):
commissioning something of an independent study into the sustainability of
the industry, not held by one single party, but the
collective as a whole. Can we really start addressing the
intigrities once we find out from an independent perspective where
the flaws are, it would then be the responsibility of
each party to go back and fix the things in
our own house. And that's something that's lacking at the moment,
(12:50):
because at the moment it's a case of he said,
she said, MM, the panel beat is doing that, the
insurer is doing this, the OEM is doing that, And
you've got under stand that in this complicated tri angle
of a relationship, it's not that complicated, but it is
quite Ultimately, the manufacturer provides the vehicle and the standard
(13:12):
to repair that vehicle, the motibody repairer implements that standard,
whatever that might be, and the insurer fundst So what
you find is, because of the rise and the complexity
in the technology, more and more equipment is required in
the shop, which places an additional compliance burden for every
manufacturer approval or manufacturer brand that you like to work
(13:35):
on that is in warranty, you would apply to that
manufacturer for approval. If you're consider in the South African
market at the moment, there are fifty In just some
passenger vehicles, there are fifty brands tw two hundred and
three derivatives. If you take BUCkies specifically, is twenty six
brands and five hundred and ninety nine derivatives. I don't
(13:56):
know if you've got a big your walls need to
be if you want to put seventy six badges on
your wall, but it's just it's unsustainable, and obviously it's
a differentiating factor.
Speaker 2 (14:04):
So us as the consumers, why does it affect us?
Is it that things are just going to get more
and more expensive for us as consumers?
Speaker 3 (14:11):
Well, I think the consumers already feeling it. If you
take a look, I don't know when last you brought
a new vehicle and got insurance on it, but your
insurance premium is sometimes fifty percent if not one hunter well,
the same price as your vehicle.
Speaker 1 (14:21):
Installment, which is so scary, and.
Speaker 3 (14:23):
That we're really purely based on the risk profile, long
term ramifications for that that might get worse. You might
see an uptake in people that are become more self insured,
or what's the name, you might see a total failure
of the NBR network.
Speaker 2 (14:38):
So how is the industry, Because this is now your
official call to action to everybody, all the players in
the game, what are you asking them to do?
Speaker 3 (14:50):
We're sending an open hand. We want to sit around
the table and we want to discuss this. We don't
want to get into the commercial elements of it. We
want to look at the problems holistically. We want to
address them as best we can, not for the sake
of the MBR sector alone, but for the industry at large.
Speaker 2 (15:06):
The website is Sambra dot biz for all of you that.
Speaker 1 (15:09):
Would like to get more information, but.
Speaker 2 (15:11):
Of course for you to reach out so that a conversation,
conversation can begin, particularly all of you in this industry.
Speaker 1 (15:20):
One, thank you so much for chatting to us.
Speaker 2 (15:22):
And I think as motorists we all need to be
very very concerned because it does have a rupel effect
that comes back to us. But let us hope that
conversation happens and that you guys come to us at
some point and say, hey, we've come together at the table.
Speaker 1 (15:38):
Here's the outcome.
Speaker 3 (15:39):
Thank you again, thank you very much, thank you for
having me. It's always a pleasure.
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